IMF Commends Nigeria's "Dynamic Reforms"

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended the Nigerian government for its "dynamic reforms" which she said is predicated on strong leadership.

The IMF boss gave the commendation at the plenary of the Annual Meeting of the World Bank and IMF, on Saturday in Tokyo.

"Look at Nigeria, a country I visited earlier this year. This is a country that, for many years, squandered its inheritance of oil riches, but now is growing impressively, helped by dynamic reforms and strong leadership," she said.

According to her, Sub-Saharan Africa is also breaking through and growing strongly and steadily after decades of stagnation.

"Of course, there is still a long way to go to win the long war against poverty, but old stereotypes are fading fast, with the rise of fast-growing `frontier markets’ attracting lots of outside interest," she added.

She urged African leaders to ensure effective policies that would bring inclusive growth and development to the region.

She noted that various changes witnessed in the region would help shape the future adding that leaders must not be carried away with the situation.

"But there are big challenges as well and we must not get carried away.

"As you will have seen from our forecasts, the global recovery is still too weak.

"Job prospects for untold millions are still too scarce and the gap between rich and poor is still too wide," she advised.